Creamy Potato Salad

My friend brought this potato salad to a BBQ recently, and it was the best potato salad I had ever tasted!  I LOVED it!  Of course, I begged for the recipe and used this same salad for our 4th of July festivities - it was a hit!
 

She found the recipe on online at all recipes, but altered it a bit to suit her tastes.  I made it exactly like my friend did.  www.allrecipes.com says: "This is the creamiest, richest potato salad you will ever try. The secret is in the homemade dressing. I get nothing but raves every time I make this."

Ingredients:

• 6 medium potatoes 
• 1 bunch of green onions, finely chopped 
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 6 hard-cooked eggs, diced 
• 2 eggs, beaten 
• 1/2 cup white sugar 
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch 
• salt to taste 
• 1/2 cup vinegar 
• 1 (5 ounce) can evaporated milk 
• 1 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard 
• 1/4 cup butter 
• 1 cup mayonnaise 
• 6-10 pieces of bacon, cooked and crumbled (optional, but a must in my house ;)

Directions:

1. Place the potatoes into a large pot, and fill with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, and cook for about 20 minutes, or until easily pierced with a fork. Drain. Cool, peel and dice. Transfer to a large bowl, and toss with the onion, 1 teaspoon of salt, and hard-cooked eggs.

2. While the potatoes are cooking, whisk together 2 eggs, sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a saucepan. Stir in the vinegar, milk, and mustard. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until thickened, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in the butter. Refrigerate until cool, then stir in the mayonnaise.

3. Stir the dressing and the cooked and crumbled bacon into the bowl of potato salad gently until evenly coated. Chill several hours or OVERNIGHT before serving for best flavor.

Egg & Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole

We had a delicious Christmas morning breakfast this year, and the best part of it is that I didn't have to do anything Christmas morning other than bake the already made casseroles.  We served the Overnight Caramel French Toast with this egg casserole, and they were both scrumptious, easy, and complimented each other well.  This recipe is definitely a keeper that we will use all year round!  

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. package frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed 
• 1 pound pork sausage 
• 1/2 small onion, diced 
• 5 eggs 
• 1/4 cup milk 
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder 
• salt and ground black pepper to taste 
• 6 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 2 quart baking dish. Place the hash brown potatoes in the bottom of the baking dish.

2. Heat a skillet over medium heat and cook and stir the sausage and onion until the sausage is crumbly, evenly browned, and no longer pink; drain. Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs, milk, onion powder, salt, and pepper, and pour over the potatoes. Layer with half the Cheddar cheese, the sausage mixture, and the remaining Cheddar cheese. Cover with aluminum foil. If making the night before, refrigerate now until morning.

3. Bake, covered with the tinfoil, in the preheated oven for 45 minutes - 1 hour. Remove foil cover; return casserole to the oven and bake until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, about 10 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

English Muffin Breakfast Pizzas

I am always on the lookout for new breakfast ideas.  I like to send Gerald to work and Katelee to school most mornings with a hot meal in their stomachs, but mornings can be crazy.  So I love it when I find more quick and easy breakfast recipes to add to our usual line up.

This recipe we tried last week, and we LOVED them.  I found this recipe on from Our Best Bites, and like everything they do, it's WONDERFUL!

Ingredients:

• 6 whole wheat English muffins at room temperature 
• 4 eggs, at room temperature 
• 2 tablespoons milk 
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt 
• About 10 dashes Tabasco sauce (I didn't have this on hand, and so didn't use it.  I'm sure it would add some kick, but they were still yummy without it!)
• 12 thin deli slices of ham or 10-12 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled 
• 3/4-1 c. shredded cheddar or pepper jack cheese 
• Optional: Chopped vegetables like green onions, tomatoes, sliced olives, mushrooms, green peppers, etc. 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray liberally with non-stick cooking spray or brush with oil or melted butter. Set aside. In a pie plate, whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, and Tabasco sauce. Gently pull apart each English muffin and soak each side (like you would for French toast) in the egg mixture–you want the egg mixture to soak into the bread, but you don’t want the English muffin to be completely falling apart. Place the muffin, cut side up, on the baking sheet. If using ham, slice the ham into thin strips and then place on top of the English muffins. If using bacon, just sprinkle the crumbled bacon on top. Add any additional desired toppings and then sprinkle with shredded cheese. Bake for 15 minutes and serve immediately.

THIS IS THE BEST PART!!  You can make these and FREEZE them for another busy morning.  AWESOME! 

FREEZER INSTRUCTIONS: After baking, loosen them from the baking sheet with a spatula and then allow them to cool completely. Transfer the baking sheet to the freezer. When the pizzas are solid, transfer them to a large Ziploc freezer bag. To reheat, place on a plate and microwave for 1 1/2 minutes at a time until the pizza is heated through (actual time will depend on how powerful your microwave is).

Mini German Pancakes Recipe

Source: momathonblog.typepad.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Saw these on pinterest. We love German pancakes and thought this sounded like a fun idea! They were awesome! Tasted just like our usual German pancakes, only it doesn't take as long to bake. And Katelee loved having her own personal pancake. ;)

Ingredients:

• 6 eggs
• 1 cup milk (you can use skim or low fat milk if you want)
• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp salt

Toppings: jam, powdered sugar and lemon juice, or maple syrup

Preheat oven to 425. Spray cupcake pans with no-stick cooking spray. Mix eggs, milk, flour and salt just enough to blend. (Do not over mix. Batter will be lumpy.) Pour batter in cupcake pans. Makes approx. 12-16 mini German pancakes. Bake 18-25 minutes depending on type of cupcake pan and the amount of batter in each cupcake tin. Remove from oven. Let cool for just a minute or two. Remove mini pancakes from pan. Drizzle with lemon juice and sprinkle with powdered sugar. You can also serve with jam or maple syrup if you prefer instead of using lemon juice. Enjoy for breakfast, lunch or dinner!

Egg & Bacon Breakfast Sandwiches

For Gerald's birthday breakfast this year, I wanted to make him egg and bacon sandwiches. I cooked the eggs in a muffin tin, as shown in this picture - it made it very easy for me to do enough for everyone all at once!

To cook eggs like this just lightly spray the muffin tin, crack one egg into each muffin cup and then bake in the oven on 350 for 15-20 min.

Because I was making bacon and egg sandwiches, I cooked the bacon in the oven at the same time, as I showed in the previous post. Since they do ask for slightly different oven temperatures, I just started the oven at 350 degrees, stuck the bacon in first, then prepared the eggs and put them in as soon as they were ready. I cooked the eggs and bacon together for 10 minutes and then increased the temperature to 375. I took the eggs out after about 5 more minutes and the bacon followed 5 minutes after that. I toasted and buttered the English muffins while these were in the oven. The eggs came out the perfect size for English muffin sandwiches, and these were definitely the easiest and fastest egg and bacon breakfast sandwiches I have ever made! The only thing I will do differently next time is slightly scramble the eggs in the muffin tin before baking, because Katelee doesn't like having a big chunk of cooked yoke in the middle of her egg. Gerald and I don't mind it, though, but scrambling slightly before cooking would be an easy fix to that problem, I think.

When everything is done, just throw an egg, a couple halves of bacon, ketchup and any other toppings you want on an English muffin and enjoy!

I love ideas that make my life easier! :)

Source: macheesmo.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Wake 'Em Up Breakfast Casserole

This recipe is from the book Devil's Food Cake by Josi S. Kilpack, and my friend made it for a potluck breakfast we had. It's delicious!

1 lb. sage sausasge or ham or crisp bacon

8 eggs

1/2 tsp. dry mustard powder or 1 tsp. prepared mustard

1 green pepper, diced

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 1/2 c. small-curd cottage cheese

1 c. shredded Swiss cheese

1 c. shredded cheddar cheese (sharp is best)

4 c. frozen shredded hash browns

1/2 c. of your favorite vegetable (optional) such as steamed broccoli, onions or mushrooms

In a skillet, brown sausage or cook bacon until crispy; drain well. In a large bowl combine eggs, mustard, green pepper, salt, pepper, and cottage cheese. mix until eggs are slightly beaten. Add cheeses and has browns, mix well. Add meat and any optional veggies. Pour into a greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes, or until center is well-set and edges are browned. Let sit for 10 minutes before cutting. Serves 8.

*The casserole can be made the night before and kept in the fridge. Add an additional 10 - 15 minutes to the baking time.

*You can bake in muffin tins to make individual casseroles that are perfect for brunch. Decrease cooking time to 25 - 35 minutes.

Gerald’s Favorite Puffy Omelet

4 eggs
2 T. water
omelet toppings of your choice, such as:
cheese
peppers
bacon
sausage
tomatoes
mushrooms
olives

Separate the yolks from the egg white. Beat the egg whites until frothy. Add the water and continue beating until there are stiff peaks, about 1 1/2 minutes with a Kitchen Aid. Fold the yolks into the whites. Pour into a hot, greased frying pan. Cook over low heat 8 – 10 minutes, not turning, or until puffed and golden brown on the bottom and set. Bake at 325 degrees for 8 – 10 minutes. Loosen from pan, pile with toppings, and fold. Eat!

Deviled Eggs

Mom always made these for Easter dinner!

12 eggs
1/4 c. mayonnaise
1/4 c. miracle whip
pinch of salt
Dill pickles, diced fine and thin
squirt of mustard
paprika

Boil the eggs until they are hard-boiled. Cool. Peel the shells off the eggs and cut neatly in half. Remove the yolks and put into a mixing bowl. Mix the yolks with the mayo, miracle whip, salt, pickles, and mustard. Spoon the yolk mixture back into the eggs, piling it up. Garnish with paprika salt on top. Serve or chill.